During a press conference at BJP head office, Sitharaman referred to IT Department’s charge sheet in a Chennai court last week against Chidambaram, his wife Nalini, son Karti and daughter-in-law Srinidhi under Section 50 of the recently-enacted Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act.

The Defence Minister called Chidambaram’s booking by the IT Department as the Congress party’s “Nawaz Sharif moment” in reference to the Pakistani Prime Minister’s disqualification from office by the country’s Supreme Court over charges of non-disclosure of assets owned abroad illegally.

Apart from slamming Chidambaram, Sitharaman attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi as well, asking whether he, who is himself out on bail for being charged with dealing in questionable transactions, will comment on this case and assure Indians of an investigation into it.

Chidambaram responded to Nirmala Sitharaman’s comments on him by taking a sly dig at her on Twitter just hours after her press conference. The former Finance Minister tweeted: “The buzz in Delhi is that Ms. Nirmala Sitaraman will be removed as Defence Minister and appointed as a lawyer of the Income-tax department. Welcome to the bar, Ms. Sitaraman.”